Richie Kennedy | route56.com

Welcome to route56.com

Welcome to my anchor point on the web. For over 20 years, I have shared various subjects regarding highway, railways, local radio, and more.

I chose the name “route56” in honor of the green and white variant of the US Highway shield that the Kansas Department of Transportation and its predecessor agency used specifically to mark US 56 from the designation of US 56 in 1956 until KDOT elected to adopt the standard black-and-white design in the mid-1980s

Click on the links above to access the pages devoted to the history of local radio and Kansas Highways, along with other creative outlets.

You can also find me on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter/X, and Flickr.

Latest Blog Posts

  • T-shirts

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    A News Item that has appeared involves several young ladies taking offense to a series of T-shirts by Abercrombie & Fitch that, on face, portray the wearer in a potentially degrading manner. They are now calling for a “girlcott” of A&F. Me, I have never shopped for clothes in an A&F store… My casual wear…

  • Beware of yahoos with loud toys

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    This afternoon, the day’s BNSF L KAN 0031 (“Local 31”) had arrived at the Lawrence BNSF Depot. During the train’s stay (setting and releasing cars), I heard what appeared to be a train horn. It sounded too close to be coming from the Union Pacific line across the river, and was definiteally not coming from…

  • That wasn’t too bad

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    There have been nightmare stories about Dell’s support when things go wrong. This is not one of them. On Saturday, the LCD screen on my laptop gave out when the flourecent backlight refused to work. It only two conversations in Dell’s new instant message tool to confirm that the backlight was the problem… and only…

  • Nasty flooding to the north

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    Flooding was a major problem yesterday into today, and a flood warning has been in effect for Jackson, Jefferson, and Northern Shawnee Counties. My Grandma, who live in Jefferson County on Perry Lake, was OK. Most of the roads leading to her house were dry; however, there was one low spot that may have flooded…

  • On a better note

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    Today is Debbie Slack‘s birthday. On my birthday, she called and sang Happy Birthday for me. Today, I returned the favor and got a chance to talk with her.

  • Republican Voicemail

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    I got a message left on my home Voicemail from a right-wing PAC asking for support on anti-gay marriage and legislation and other resolutions in support of religion. What was really bad was the fact that apparantly, this PAC cannot afford an auto-dialer that does not realize that and answering machine or voicemail has picked…

  • Train Show Followup

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    Our attendance at this year’s show was not very big… There may be a multitude of reasons. One thing I should note… there is a show at Union Station next weekend, at the same time as the opening of a new Railroad museum, the display of MILW 261, and the birthday of young Rylie Carson

  • Show Prep….

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    Next Saturday is our Model Railroad Club‘s train show. To get ready, it takes about a week. We have a staging area set up to assemble our HO layout, then on Friday, we take her over to the fairgrounds, show and dismantle on Saturday.

  • Right on Cue

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    During both both KU football home games so far, when the broadcast makes its way to the booth, the PA has been loud enough that you can hear what song is blaring through it. In both broadcasts, the song they play at the start of the broadcast is “As Good as I once Was” by…

  • BNSF special

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    A long string of BNSF buisness cars came by the Lawrence Depot eastbound this morning at 11:00 while I was nearby at Kennedy Glass working on some pictures I had taken earlier this morning. I got a shot of each car as they rolled through BNSF 5491 BNSF 4389 BNSF 51 “Snoqualmie Pass” BNSF 65…